EP1412281B1 - Home comsumption keg - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a home consumption keg (1) for liquid foodstuffs, especially beer, provided with Bavarian tapping (15) and an ascending pipe (16) attached thereto.

Description

The invention relates to a home consumption keg for liquid food and in particular for beer with a barrel body and a built-in wall fitting for filling, cleaning and / or emptying the keg and a Bavarian puncture in the region of the particular cylindrical circumference of the keg for tapping the liquid Food from the keg, which is connected to the Bavarian tapestry a riser. Such a keg is known from GB 847 351 A.

The Bavarian puncture is understood to mean a closure element which is arranged laterally in the barrel body and which is provided so that a manual tap is hammered into this cylindrical closure element, the closure element thereby opens, and then the tap itself is responsible for opening or closing the barrel body.

The term Home Consumption Keg means in particular beer kegs for household use with long-term repeated Zapfbereitschaft without quality loss of the drink.

One known variant is the so-called Keggy, which has an integrated CO ₂ tank filled with liquid carbon dioxide. The Keggy requires a special tap head, which is structurally complex and very expensive in trade. In addition, it requires a considerable technical effort when refilling the CO ₂ tank with liquid carbon dioxide.

Another variant consists in party kegs, which consist of a five-liter tin can and thus are very small. The party keg can not be closed again and fills with the tap with air, which leaves a long time in the barrel remaining beverage, especially beer, quickly become shabby, because on the one hand the carbon dioxide from the beer in the air-filled interior of the party On the other hand, the oxygen diffuses from the air into the beer.

As another variant, there is a party barrel with Bavarian puncture, which is arranged as in the well-known wooden barrels in the peripheral area near the bottom of the barrel. In the party keg, either air is let into the keg via the filling and cleaning valve technology, but this again leads to the described sensory problem after a longer service life, or carbon dioxide is supplied from an external gas cylinder via a special tap head and an external reducing valve; However, the handling of external sources of CO ₂ supply is cumbersome, not dangerous and requires expertise.

The present invention has for its object to further develop the Home Consumption Keg described above and to improve it even further, to provide a barrel for household use, which has improved consumption characteristics.

This object is achieved in that the fitting is arranged in leg journal lower barrel body area.

In contrast, according to the invention, the fitting is arranged in the lower drum body region on the pin on the side opposite the reducing and / or non-return valve. The position of the fitting when tapping is not important in itself, since it is no longer needed. When filling the keg, however, as with the standard keg, it should be at the bottom of the drum body to facilitate access to the drum interior and allow the use of a standard keg cleaning and filling machine. These opposing requirements of the valve in the upper Fassbereichs to be arranged reducing and / or check valve (CO ₂ feed) and to be arranged during filling also in the upper barrel area fittings can be achieved in a simple manner that the keg not only when filling " but also when tapping, so that the reducing and / or check valve is then at the upper end of the keg, while the fitting is arranged in the bottom area. It should be mentioned that the particular centric arrangement of the reducing valve on the opposite side of the fitting can also be exploited to the fact that the reducing and / or non-return valve is cleaned during cleaning of the barrel interior.

The riser has the advantage to provide a long throttle path between barrel interior and tap available, resulting in - for example, at an inner diameter of the riser of about 2 mm - a large flow resistance, thereby resulting in a low Reynolds number and ultimately a laminar flow so that the beer can be tapped with appropriate foaming. While the known Home Consumption Kegs usually lack a corresponding technique and the pin is therefore often associated with excessive foaming in house use, the riser ensures that even using the well-known and very simple tapping by means of a tap, the Zapfergebnis good. The reason for this lies in the flow conditions within the riser, whereby it is of course an advantage to make the riser as long as possible before the Bavarian puncture.

Therefore, it is expedient to arrange the Bavarian puncture spaced from the lower end of the barrel body (or from the Füllventiltechnik arranged there) and in particular in the upper half of the barrel body (the actual barrel bottom in the later described in more detail preferred embodiment), so that the riser up into the barrel bottom opposite head region can extend over a considerable height, which leads to a further increase in the flow resistance. A special side effect of this upwardly laid Bavarian puncture is that it is now possible for the first time to put a beer glass under the tap, which is located on the same level as the keg. So it does not have a special special equipment for parking the glasses be arranged below the barrel, as there is sufficient space under the tap for a glass to be filled and more glasses can then be arranged in a simple manner next to this glass on the tapping table.

It should be mentioned that the riser should preferably have a substantially increasing course to improve the flow conditions and the cleaning.

Another essential point of the present invention is that the keg has an integrated reducing and / or non-return valve for connecting a CO ₂ tank, this valve is preferably set or preset so that it has an internal pressure of 0.8 to 1.2 bar inside the barrel guaranteed. An external CO can be connected to the valve ₂ container then be connected, or - and this is a further feature essential to the invention - the keg has an integrated CO ₂ container for containing a sufficient amount of CO ₂ for the complete emptying of the keg. In this case, the user of the keg actually needs nothing more than a simple tap to tap in the simplest way a beer that corresponds to the professional conditions, which neither has excessive foaming, nor scarf after shorter or longer periods, because the necessary pressure to tap or fill the cavity forming inside the cavity by CO ₂ , which is stored in the integrated into the keg CO ₂ tank. At the same time, contamination of the beverage by ambient air is avoided and the kegs remain moist and clean inside.

Finally, it is particularly advantageous if the CO ₂ in the CO ₂ container is gaseous. As a result, the filling of the once-used keg with CO _{2 is} much easier than if this would be in the liquid state, because then would have to be controlled by a costly volume measurement, the capacity of the CO ₂ . Liquid becomes CO _2, for example, at 20 bar only from -10 ° C, so that the volume to be filled must be calculated taking into account the weight in consideration of pressure and temperature. In contrast, with CO ₂ present in the gaseous state, it is easily possible to fill the CO ₂ tank until a pressure equalization with the CO _{2 of} the feed line exists, wherein the CO ₂ tank is filled with up to 60 bar can.

If the reducing and / or non-return valve is arranged on the journal in the upper barrel body region, this has the further effect that the CO ₂ is supplied to where it is needed, namely above the liquid level. So it must not first flow through the liquid, so in particular the beer at a feed from below and possibly cause foaming, but instead simply fills the upper area of the barrel inside, in which there is no more drink (beer).

Likewise, it is also advisable in this case to arrange the integrated CO ₂ container in the journal upper portion of the barrel, wherein expediently the integrated CO ₂ container is surrounded by an upper collar ring or a sheath and protected from the environment.

Finally, it is recommended that the riser runs laterally next to the fitting in the bottom area of the barrel body, wherein the "bottom area" is based on the state when tapping, so represents the side with the fitting. That is, due to the riser extending in the direction of the fitting, it will not be possible to use the barrel in the orientation of the spigot in which the fitting is at the top, since the riser would be up to the barrel top in the barrel interior and its end soon above the liquid level would be.

In particular, using all the features listed above, you get a keg for household use, which is characterized by excellent beer quality even over a longer period in that is tapped not with air but with CO ₂ . Integrating the CO ₂ tank into the keg also makes it possible to manage without additional equipment, CO ₂ bottles and the like, and instead to tap and empty a keg solely using a conventional manual tap. Finally, gaseous CO ₂ in the CO ₂ container ensures better handling of the home consumption keg in the brewery when filling the CO ₂ tank. It should be pointed out that all features listed here are to be regarded as separate inventions, which further develop a generic keg in an advantageous manner.

Figur 1

ein erfindungsgemäßes Home Consumption Keg in geschnittener Seitenansicht; und

Figur 2

die Draufsicht auf den CO₂-Behälter des Home Consumption Kegs aus Figur 1.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the drawings; show here

FIG. 1

an inventive Home Consumption Keg in a sectional side view; and

FIG. 2

the top view of the CO ₂ container of the home consumption keg of Figure 1.

The Home Consumption Keg 1 shown in Figure 1 consists of a two-deep-drawn shells barrel body 2, which are welded together at a weld 3. The keg has a known per se fitting 4 with connected filling pipe 18 in the upper region shown in Figure 1, but which forms the bottom portion of the keg during the pin. That is, Figure 1 shows the state for transporting the keg, while for filling and tapping the keg 1 "must be turned upside down", so that then the fitting is located in the bottom area. On the opposite side of the keg, so in Figure 1 in the lower region, a check valve 5 is provided, through which the stored in a CO ₂ container 6 gaseous CO ₂ can flow after reducing pressure in a reducing valve in the barrel interior.

The CO ₂ container 6 is shown in Figure 2 in plan view even better: There is also at one end of the C-shaped bent CO ₂ tank the fixed preset reducing valve 7 and on the other side of the CO ₂ tank a connecting pipe 8, which connects the CO ₂ tank via a pressure measuring knob 9 with a central unit 10 and finally with a high pressure valve 11 for filling the CO ₂ tank.

In contrast, the reducing valve 7 via a connecting pipe 12 with the check valve 5 and then with the barrel interior in conjunction.

The barrel body has an upper collar ring 13 and a lower collar ring 14, which give the keg a secure footing or make it stackable and also protect the CO ₂ fitting and the fitting against external influences. The collar ring 14 shown in Figure 1 below is the pin of the upper collar ring, while the collar ring 13, which is shown in Figure 1 above, when pin is the lower collar ring. The collar ring 14 thus surrounds the CO ₂ container and protects it against external influences.

In the upper third of the barrel body, so in Figure 1 in the lower third, a Bavarian puncture 15 is provided, which is integrated into the cylindrical peripheral wall of the barrel body and extending from this radially inward extends. In extension of the Bavarian puncture 15 a riser is provided, which extends, starting from the radial extent in the axial direction bent to the bottom portion of the barrel. In this case, the riser 16 is arranged at a distance from the axial axis of the barrel so that it leaves free the area of the fitting 4, thereby not hindering in particular the cleaning of the barrel interior by the opening 17 of the barrel which is filled with itself by the fitting.

Now, if the barrel is turned over to tap, so is the free end of the riser next to the fitting and the connected filling pipe 18 almost completely at the bottom of the barrel and can take from there the beer and thereby completely empty the barrel. The riser has an inner diameter of only about 2 mm, to cause the greatest possible flow resistance and thereby produce a laminar flow of the beer, which leads to extremely low foam development even when using simple taps.

Claims (11)

1. Home consumption keg for liquid foodstuffs and in particular beer,

   - with a main body (2) and

   - a fitting (4) integrated into the wall thereof for filling, cleaning and/or emptying the keg (1) as well as

   - a Bavarian tap (15) in the region of the particularly cylindrical periphery of the keg for tapping the liquid foodstuff from the keg,

   - a riser pipe (16) being connected to the Bavarian tap,

   characterised in that the fitting (4) is disposed in the region of the main body which is at the bottom during tapping.
2. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that the Bavarian tap (15) is disposed spaced from the end of the main body (2) which is at the bottom during tapping.
3. Home consumption keg as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the Bavarian tap (15) is disposed in the half of the main body (2) which is at the top during tapping, and that the riser pipe (16) extends into the base region.
4. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the riser pipe (16) extends substantially upwards.
5. Home consumption keg as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the keg (1) has an integrated reducing valve (7) for connection of a CO₂ container (6).
6. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 5, characterised in that the keg (1) has an integrated CO₂ container.
7. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 6, characterised in that the CO₂ stored in the container (6) is in gaseous form.
8. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 5, characterised in that the reducing valve (7) is disposed in the region of the main body which is at the top during tapping.
9. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 8, characterised in that the integrated CO₂ container is disposed in the region of the main body which is at the top during tapping.
10. Home consumption keg as claimed in Claim 9, characterised in that the integrated CO₂ container (6) is surrounded by an upper annular collar (14).
11. Home consumption kg as claimed in at least Claim 3, characterised in that the riser pipe (16) for tapping extends laterally from the fitting (4) and the filler pipe (18) thereof into the base region of the main body (2).

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